Another Bin O Shame Finish!

I finished this up moments ago. Another one that was started then set aside from the Bin O Shame. This makes the third one this year. Go me! Now I don't feel so bad about starting Maleficent, haha! 


Well, at any rate, here it is! 

Design: Adeline Ogier 1873 (Collection Privee)

Designer:  GiGi R

Fabric: unknown 32 count cream linen

Fiber Used: Thread Gatherer's Silk n' Colors  #194 Aged Plum

Stitcher's Notes: Part of the charity event Ricami Amo per l'Emilia in 2012. Stitched only part of the design as I truly did not feel like stitching either the border or the alphabet. :)

In other news, if rumor be true, tomorrow my favorite hockey player of all time, Martin Brodeur , will be announcing his retirement. I was hoping to see him play one more time before he hung up his skates for good, but alas, this is not to be. I wish him well and thank him for all that he has contributed to the sport I love so dearly. 

Well, I best be off. Need to clean up the area and find something for lunch. Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! :)

---

Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Halloween Finish finally finished

I wanted to show off this piece that I finished in 2012, however,  I never got around to deciding that I wanted it framed or not. I finally decided on making a shadowbox out of it. I managed to get a really nice one for half off at Joann's. The bits and pieces came from Michael's, as I find their holiday floral department better than Joann's. 

Well, here she is, my version of the Blackbird Sampler,  all done up for Halloween. Pertinents and such first! :)

Design: Blackbird Sampler (finished based off of this piece)

Designer: Blackbird Designs

Fabric: 28 count Lakeside Linens in Sugared Ginger

Fiber Used: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Old Crow

Stitcher's Notes: Changed the alphabet to the words that were used and fudged the date to reflect 2012, the year it was stitched. Moon taken from the Trix or Treat booklet by Blackbird Designs. Changed to make it bigger and more 'moonlike'. :)

Detail: 

This is actually two separate pieces. The hat and the tiny crow with the hat. :)

Welp, I best be off. Tons to do today. Hope everyone is having a fantastic week. 

---

Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Winter Solstice Post

Happy Winter Solstice to everyone! For those of you out there in Blogland who can't stand winter, the days from here on out will be slowly, but surely!, getting longer. Which also means my beloved Peeps aren't that far behind. Yay!!


At any rate, I managed to pick something back up that I had sort of started. I wasn't digging on the original fabric, so I changed it to my favorite Picture This Plus Cashel linen in Legacy.  I am loving the project so far, but twice the frog has visited, so I hope he's gone for now!


Here is what I have so far:

Design: Holly and Hearts Mystery Sampler (Part One)

Designer: Linda Ebright for Lizzie Kate

Fabric: 28 count Picture This Plus Cashel linen in Legacy

Fibers: Weeks Dye Works  embroidery floss in Artichoke, Baked Apple, Charlotte's Pink, Chestnut, Collards, Dirt Road, Oscar, Parchment, Pebble and Straw. 

Stitcher's Notes: Stitched one floss thread over one fabric thread. Frame by Q-Snap.  Needle by John James, gold plated in size 28.

I am seriously considering changing the saying in the middle part, but to what I am not sure of yet. I may just do the stitching around the saying and decide later. 

Well, I best be off. Today marks the start of my week and I have to be at work soon. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

---

Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Craftapolooza

Lots and lots of stitching and kitchen crafting today. Managed to finish Autumn Sampler and get in some cooking. I love to cook more than even stitching. I wanted to be a professional chef, however, 'back in the day' your only avenues were professional schools in France or quit school at 13 like Jacques Pépin and work in kitchens my whole life. It never happened, but DH has promised me that if we ever get the money, I will get to go to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris for both the Diplôme de Cuisine and the Diplôme de Pâtisserie. When you get both, Le Grand Diplôme is awarded. How exciting would that be?! :)


Well at any rate, I will post stitchy pictures first, then the cooking pictures. 

Design: Autumn Sampler

                        Designer:  Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric: unknown 28 count Flax linen (Possibly Zweigart's Cashel linen)

                 Fibers Used:  Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Beanstalk,                                 Old Crow, Pumpkin Carriage, Red Fox, Teddy Bear, and                                                            Vanilla Pudding



Stitcher's notes: Stitched one over one. Did not stitch the called for border. Stitched checkerboard with Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Old Crow and Vanilla Pudding. Pumpkin stitched in Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Vanilla Pudding. Date stitched in Roman numerals. Only one berry stitched in Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Red Fox in upper corners due to space issues. 

And, now for the cooking pictures. I made up a huge batch of beef stew for dinner tonight. I was really in a fall mood. I am tired of salads (Hold that thought till January there, sweet pea! :P) and wanted something completely different. This fit the bill. This same stone killed another bird by being prepared before DH and I go camping at Prairie Creek Redwoods. Now, that particular meal is covered and I won't have to scramble to make it because I forgot to plan ahead! :)

I also made a Pumpkin Spice Cake with a Honey Buttercream frosting. DH gave it a 4 out of 5 stars. We both think that the frosting needs to be on my Pumpkin Loaf that I make. :P

Welp, I best be off. The work week starts tomorrow and I have tons to do before bed. Hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully I will have a stitchy post next week for you all! :)

---

C. 

The Ghost Pumpkin

I have a confession to make. I absolutely ADORE white pumpkins. I have no idea as to what fascinates me so with them, but I just love them. As consequence, whenever I get the opportunity, I buy one in the supermarket and stitch them whenever I can. I have another planned piece that I want to do, however, it will have to wait until next year. Autumn Sampler, however, did not escape the White Pumpkin Obsession and now boasts its' own white pumpkin. The thing is, due to the pale flax color of the fabric I am using, you know it's there, but you can barely see it. I am fairly amused by it and I am calling it the Ghost Pumpkin as consequence. This morning I managed to get a fairly decent picture to where it will show up, but I am fairly certain it will not make an appearance next time :).  I am ok with this because for several reasons:

1. I refuse to rip out one over one if it can be helped

2. While I love my silks, it is cost prohibitive to rip them out if it can be helped.

3. I rather like the idea of a pumpkin being there but not. Kinda ties in with the whole Halloween/Fall thing, yea? 

Well, without further ado, here is my progress so far on Autumn Sampler:

Design: Autumn Sampler

                        Designer:  Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric: unknown 28 count Flax linen (Possibly Zweigart's Cashel linen)

                 Fibers Used:  Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Beanstalk,                                 Old Crow, Pumpkin Carriage, Red Fox, Teddy Bear, and                                                            Vanilla Pudding

I best be off. Need to have breakfast then I have to go get my hair done. Hope everyone is having a fantastic week! :)

---

Respectfully submitted,

C. 

Autumn, maybe?

It's a sign of getting older when the days fly by and you go into a store and realize it's already the next season. I was still in 'Summer Mode' when I went into the grocery story the other day when I came upon Halloween candy out. I suppose in retail it's never too early, but honestly, I think you only need one month to stock up on candy for Halloween. As I practice crafting, I can see the need for having things out a few months earlier. I have projects that will take YEARS to finish, so yea, I need the extra time. Not food however. :P


At any rate, I felt the need to start a fall themed project since I managed to get another finish up under my belt. I'm not in the mood for Halloween, but since September 1 is not that far off (2 days!!), I thought something Autumn/Fall related would be ok. This also means that come September 1, everything you know and love will be pumpkin flavored until the day after New Years! However, this also means that the Barnes and Noble Cafe will have the maple pecan scone back in stock and my beloved New Jersey Devils are back in action. Woohoo!!! And not only that, my beloved Hubmeister got us tickets to go see my beloved New Jersey Devils play in November. Yay!!!!! Here is where we will be sitting:

Not only is it closer to the visiting goaltender, it's also where the visiting team enters and exits the ice. Woohoo!!! Let's go Devils, let's go!!! 


At any rate, here is what I've chosen to stitch fall related wise. I really love Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks  work as it lends itself easily to not only over one stitching, which I am doing in this piece, but it also lends itself for customization. While I am stitching this in the called for colors that were included in the pack, I am seriously debating making the pumpkin white instead of well, pumpkin orange :P. I'm not sure yet, but comments are always welcome! :)

Design: Autumn Sampler

                        Designer:  Diane Williams of Little House Needleworks

Fabric: unknown 28 count Flax linen (Possibly Zweigart's Cashel linen)

                 Fibers Used:  Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Beanstalk,                                 Old Crow, Pumpkin Carriage, Red Fox and Teddy Bear

Well, I must be off. Got some stuff to do before I can get back to my stitching. Hope everyone is having a great week! :)

---

Respectfully submitted,

C. 

The Season of Changes

Fall seems to be the season of changes. First the weather, which I seem to be under, and then my job, which seems to have been phased out. I'm in the process of looking and could use all the prayers and good thoughts I can get. :)


There also seems to be many, many changes in my online world as well. Looks like Blogger has changed the format AGAIN and Webshots recently announced that they are going to start charging for the use of their hosting pictures. I have about 4 YEARS worth of pictures and almost 300 posts in this blog alone, every post containing pictures that are hosted on Webshots. WS will no longer be hosting the pictures already on their servers, but I DO know that I do not have the time, the energy or the will to take all of the pictures down, re host them somewhere else, and redo the code on almost 300 blog posts. Then again, I am quasi-unemployed so if I don't get a job soon, that may be a project that I give myself :P. So, it's back to Photobucket for me until I can come up with a solution. 


In the spirit of all this change, I managed to finish a lone project up late last night. It is a Halloween design that I sort of created using a Blackbird Designs freebie from 2002. I changed the alphabet to the words that were used and fudged the date a bit. I am really happy with the way it turned out and hope you enjoy the finish.


Well, without further ado, here is the finished product:


Design: Blackbird Sampler (finished based off of this piece)


Designer: Blackbird Designs


Fabric: 28 count Lakeside Linens in Sugared Ginger


Fiber Used: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Old Crow

Well, I best be off. Got tons to do. Hope everyone has a great week! :)


---


Respectfully submitted, 


C. 

Progress Report

I've made some really good progress on my A La Belle Etoile SAL since I last posted. It feels like I'm just zipping right along. I am really enjoying stitching this and I am happy that I am sticking to my promise to stitch only WIPs this year. :)


At any rate, here's what I have accomplished so far:




Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Elegant Eggplant, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

I am hoping to have it completed within the next few weeks. I am now on a quest for the perfect frame for it. I think this may even be one of the pieces I keep up on the walls all year. :)


Well, I best be off. I have a ton of stuff I have to do today. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.

En ma Fin gît mon Commencement...

Happy new year, everybody! Hope everyone has gotten off to a good start to the new year and has sufficiently recovered from the Eve of the New Year. DH and I skipped the festivities this year, as he had to be at work at 6 AM :(. Ah, well. It's no matter to me, as the Strip this year was MASSIVELY overcrowded and they were charging 35 bucks a HEAD to be Downtown on Fremont Street. No thanks!


At any rate, I've kept to my promise of only stitching WIPs this year (so far!), however, I did have a new start on New Year's Day. It's not my fault really. I have been obsessing over this piece for quite some time now and the only way to get it to STFU was to kit the bleedin' thing up and start it.


So, without further ado, here is what I've been working on:



WIP #1:



Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Elegant Eggplant, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

Not too much progress, but I am making some. I've decided to leave the large portions of the Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru for the end of the night when my eyes become fatigued. This way it still gets stitched on and I don't have to count anything out, really.



And here is WIP #2, AKA The Piece That Wouldn't STFU:


Design: Mary Queen of Scots



Designer: Papillon Creations



Fabric: Picture This Plus 32 count linen in Phoenix



Fibers: Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru.


Stitcher's notes: Fabric was chosen as Mary, Queen of Scots was a red head as was her cousin, Elizabeth I of England. The motto at the bottom of the sampler, "In my End is my Beginning...", is a reminder of her mother, Mary of Guise. The emblem, the Phoenix, which on the sampler, flank the motto. It was a motto that Mary, Queen of Scots loved so much, she had it embroidered on her Cloth of State. The Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss was chosen as Mary's favorite color was white, as she felt it showed off her red hair to its' best advantage.



Stitched one thread over two threads of fabric.

Here is the wee bit I have done up close:

Funny how the lighting changes the color of the fabric so drastically. The first picture is the best representation of the true color of the fabric. I have no clue how the second photograph wound up being closer to magenta. o.o. I am still not certain of the coverage of the one strand. I am seriously thinking about switching to two strands. I should probably get out some test fabric and try both one and two strands.


Well, I best be off. I have a ton of stuff to do today. Hope everyone is having a great first week of the New Year! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.

Final Post of 2011

Well, Christmas has come and gone. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! The Hubmeister and I went to Half Moon Bay for the holidays and stayed with his mother. We all had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed being that close to the beach again. We have plans to go back in March to go see the Buffalo Sabres at San Jose Sharks. My MIL got us tickets for our Christmas present. She also got me a Ryan Miller Premier Road Jersey and The Hubmeister a Ryan Miller Premier Home Jersey so we will be suitably attired come game time. I'm so excited to go see another pro hockey game. I wish I could go see my beloved New Jersey Devils, but they aren't going to be on the West Coast again until next year. It's a bummer, but whatareyagonnado?


At any rate, since we had a 10 hour car trip (one way, I might add!), I took along my A La Belle Etoile SAL. I managed to get a fair amount completed. My house finally has a roof (yay!), however, I think if I ever stitch this again, I am going to swap out the beige of the house for the dark purple. I think it would look better that way. I didn't change it this time, as I am stitching with silks, and there is no way on God's green earth I am ripping out 20 dollars in silks to do a mere color change. Nuh uh. No way, no how...


ANYHOO...enough of my yapping! Time for some pictures! :)




Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone, Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone, 20 MM Crystal Aurora Borealis star and 16 mm - Crystal Aurora Borealis moon.

I like the way it looks so far. I am hoping to get a bit more completed, but it alas will not be finished in time for the new year. I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it in.


Here is my list of completed work for 2011. I think it's fairly respectable, but I am disappointed in how few WIPs I managed to complete. I am hoping to rectify that in 2012 with the 2012 WIPocalypse hosted by Measi. The only rule I am making for myself is to just grab a project out of the bag and go. No lists because every time I make one, I can never stick to it, so I am not going to set myself up for what I would consider failure. I stitch to have fun and relax, not to make myself feel bad!



At any rate, here's my list of finishes:



1. Merry Christmas by Blackbird Designs finished 07.07.11

2. Season of Growth by Little House Needleworks finished 04.26.11

3. Cherries by JBW Designs Finished 04.14.11

4. Let's Go To The Beach by JBW Designs for Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine, July 2009. Finished 04.20.11

5. Spooky Sunday SAL by SanMan Originals. Finished 11.01.11.

6. Harvest Sampler by Linda P. Reeves. Finished 10.26.11.

7. At Plimoth by The Sampler Girl. Finished 10.25.11.

8. Apple Butter by Cross Eyed Cricket. Finished 10.22.11.

9. Quaker Acorn by The Workbasket. Finished 10.21.11.

10. Leaves by Cross Eyed Cricket. Finished 10.18.11.

11. Witchy Hat by SanMan Originals. Finished 10.14.11

12. Salem Witch by The Primitive Needle. Finished 09.10.11.

13. October Quaker by The Workbasket. Finished 08.26.11.

14. A Very Merry Summer by JBW Designs. Finished 06.27.11.

15. Fleur de Lis by JBW Designs. Finished 06.22.11

16. Joy of Christmas by My Big Toe. Finished 05.11.11.

17. Miniature Monogram Hornbook-Margin Marker by Kelmscott Designs. Finished 05.04.11.

18. Bunny's Bloom by The Primitive Jewel. Finished 04.28.11

19. Downton Abbey by The Sampler Girl. Finished 04.27.11

20. Now I Know My ABC's by Blackbird Designs. Finished 04.13.11.

21. Basket of Memories by Blackbird Designs. Finished 04.10.11.

22. A Very Merry Spring by JBW Designs. Finished 04.05.11.

23. Summer Iris by Blackbird Designs. Finished 03.30.11.

24. Cupcake by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.26.11.

25. A Stitcher's Companion by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.17.11.

26. My Home threadkeep by Blackbird Designs. Finished 01.07.11.



Well, I had best be off. I have a TON of stuff to do and time's a wastin'! I hope everyone has a blessed and prosperous new year!


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.

Here a WIP, there a WIP, every where a WIP WIP

Goooooood morning, sports fans! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far. I have made little progress on my Thread Basket SAL and have even started yet another project. I have decided that I am going to treat the 2012 WIPocalypse hosted by Measi as a Bacchanalian free for all fest. I have all of my WIP and UFO bags dragged out and on stand by. I am going to start with the projects that are in my stitching area and then I am just going to grab one out of the bags and GO. I am NOT going to make any lists of specific projects to get done, because when I did that this year, I was less than successful. As in I only completed FOUR out of the TWENTY ONE I had wanted to do. For the most part, this also means going on the wagon and not buying a anything other than the odd floss that I ran out of and/or didn't have. I may buy the odd chart now and then, because let's face it, we are spoiled enough to have wonderful designers who manage to produce such lovely things, and Nashville Market is in a few months, and you know what THAT means. Guaranteed stitchy goodness and probably overtime for me to pay for it. :D


At any rate, here is what I have so far on my stitching:





WIP #1:


Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Mode


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.

WIP#2:


Design: Sew Red


Designer: iStitch Designs


Fabric: 28 count linen in Vintage by Fleur de Luce Hand Dyeds


Fibers: Au Ver a Soie Soie d' Alger 7-strand silk floss in 2926. Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid in PB03 Gold.

Well, I am off for now. I have a mild headache and looking at the computer screen is hurting my eyes a bit. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with all joy, peace, and lots of eats and treats! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.

Making it look like I'm doing something...

Not much of an update on my Thread Basket SAL. I seem to have caught the 'bug' that is floating around work. Yay. I haven't been able to concentrate on anything for any length of time, so as consequence, I sort of skipped around a lot when I was stitching.


Permettez-moi de te présenter, mes offres maigres (Allow me to present to you, my meager offerings):



Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.


Accouterments: Jolee's Jewels - Crystallized Swarovski Elements in Purple Violet 4 mm bicone and Crystal Moonlight 4 mm bicone.

Closeup of the beadwork:

Well, I am off for now. Not feeling so hot again. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.

A La Belle Etoile SAL

Haven't made much progress on the A La Belle Etoile SAL. I am hoping to get some more completed soon, now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over. I am going to use beads in place of the stitches on the vines, and I picked out some extra special ones. I am hoping to post pictures of them soon. :)


At any rate, here is what I have so far:



Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Sweet Lavender, and Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru. KreinikVery Fine (#4) Braid in 001 Silver.

Well, I am off for now. I need to go get dinner going. Tonight DH and I are going to decorate the tree. Yay! :). I've been looking forward to this all day.


Hope everyone has a great week! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,

C.

A La Belle Etoile SAL update

Been plugging away at the A La Belle Etoile SAL. I am not as far along as I want to be, and the whole project has to be completed by 12.14.11. I am hoping to get a bit more caught up soon. I've been skipping around stitching on different elements as for whatever reason, big blocks of color which normally do not bother me, are kinda boring right now. I am hoping that this will pass soon!


Besides, I have so much I want to stitch on, and just not enough hours in the day. The stitcher's lament the world over, I guess! :)


At any rate, here is what I have so far:


Design: A La Belle Etoile SAL

Designer: The Thread Basket with C Mon Monde


Fabric: 28 count silk and linen in natural by Wichelt

Fibers: Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk in Empress, Ivy League, Tumbleweed. Gumnut Yarns Stars silk floss in #991 ecru.

Well, I am off to go watch some TV and hopefully get more of the SAL completed. Tomorrow I begin preparations for Thanksgiving, so I am not sure how much I am going to get stitched between now and Black Friday. Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.

Framed Finishes

Howdy, y'all! Thought I would post two of my recent finishes now that they are framed up and ready to be given away.


Here is the first one, with the requisite notes :) :


Design: Let's Go To The Beach


Designer: Designer: Judy Whitman for JBW Designs


Fabric: 28 count Graziano Milan linen in white from Norden Crafts


Fibers: DMC Embroidery Floss Art 117 in 150, 159, 160, 161, 336, 435, and 3855

Here is the second finish:


Design: Harvest Sampler as featured in the Fall/Winter 1996 Holiday Crafts magazine by Better Homes and Gardens


Designer: Linda Reeves of La Broderie


Fabric: 28 count Cashel linen by Zweigart in Summer Khaki .


Fibers Used: DMC Flower Thread in 2400, 2433, 2434, 2613, 2782, 2898. Caron Collection Wildflowers thread in Fiesta and Marigold.


Accouterments: Mill Hill Beads in Number G02011 Victorian Gold. By Jupiter! apple charm in antique gold.

I purchased both frames at Hobby Lobby. They were both on sale at 50% off. I think both of the frames really set off the needlework. I hope the presents are well received!


Well, I best be off for now. I need to get to wrapping up these presents and I need to get some more stitching done. I've joined the 2012 WIPocalypse over at Measi's Musings. I am hoping to put a bigger dent into my stash next year. I would love to have to buy more tubs on account of my finishing so much and not because I bought more stuff. :P


Hope everyone's having a great day! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.

Harvest Sampler

I have today through Sunday off and I managed to get all of my chores done before my mini break. I had myself a stitching and Murder, She Wrote marathon. I cooked beef stew for dinner tonight as it's a bit chilly (for here it is!). I had a really good day and I look forward to the rest of my time off. I've started an ornament from the last JCS Halloween Ornament issue. Not much done, but I will post pictures as soon as I have a bit more accomplished. :)


A note about the sampler. While it *is* completed, and it is as close to the original as possible, I had to use Mill Hill beads, as the called for Whimsey seed beads are no longer being made. I also tweaked the design a bit, and didn't stitch two of the apples in the center band, as this piece is intended for the lady who bailed me out in locating the DMC Flower Thread that I was having issues in locating as it is no longer made. She dipped into her own stash and sent me what I needed without thought for payment. I thought it would be nice to stitch one of these up for her. I plan on stitching this again, this time for me and The Hubmeister. I may get around to it, I may not. I am getting "Autumn Stitching Fatigue' and I have a few Christmas things I need to get around to stitching. Eh, I'll cross that stitch when and if I get to it. :P



At any rate, here is the finished piece:


Design: Harvest Sampler as featured in the Fall/Winter 1996 Holiday Crafts magazine by Better Homes and Gardens


Designer: Linda Reeves of La Broderie


Fabric: 28 count Cashel linen by Zweigart in Summer Khaki .


Fibers Used: DMC Flower Thread in 2400, 2433, 2434, 2613, 2782, 2898. Caron Collection Wildflowers thread in Fiesta and Marigold.

And as a reminder, here is the one I did back in 1996:

Not sure if I like the original or the one I did back in 1996 with all the changes better! :)


Well, I best be off. I am currently questing for any information on the Summer Ornament that Prairie Schooler did for Just Cross Stitch . I think it was in the May/June issue in 2007, but I'm not sure. If anyone has this magazine and can confirm that for me, that would be just peachy. And if anyone knows of anyone that's willing to part with the magazine or even just that chart, please let me know. Thanks so much! :)


Well, I best be off for now. My Tea Time magazine came in today, so I'm off to get a cuppa and read this gorgeous holiday issue and drool over all of the lovely china and linens they picture in it. Hope everyone is having a great week! :)


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.

A Harvest Sampler & Apple Butter

Got a lot more done on my Harvest Sampler yesterday. Had to stop when it got dark out, as my head was beginning to hurt a bit. I picked up a really cute CEC freebie to stitch and I finished it during The West Wing last night.

Here are the updates:


The WIP:


Design: Harvest Sampler as featured in the Fall/Winter 1996 Holiday Crafts magazine by Better Homes and Gardens


Designer: Linda Reeves of La Broderie


Fabric: 28 count Cashel linen by Zweigart in Summer Khaki .


Fibers Used: DMC Flower Thread in 2400, 2433, 2434, 2613, 2782, 2898. Caron Collection Wildflowers thread in Fiesta and Marigold.

The Finish:

Design: Apple Butter freebie


Designer: Cross Eyed Cricket


Fabric: R& R Reproductions 30 count overdyed linen in Witches' Teeth


Fibers: DMC in White, 309, 353, 644, 745, 815, 840, 3346, 3348, 3855, 3865, and 3866.

Well, I best be off. I have pumpkin bread baking in the oven ATM, and it smells like it's almost done. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!


---


Respectfully submitted,


C.